Best Friend's Girl
by WritingRamblingRavenclaw
Summary: He loves her. He always has, he's sure that he always will. Trouble is, to the entire castle, to the entire world, she'll always be his best friend's girl.LERL
1. Chapter One: A Maruader

Author's Note- This is a Marauder's Era story, taking place at the end of the character's sixth year and the whole of their seventh. I have absolutely no idea how long it will be… I'm TERRIBLE at predicting these things. Because I am a scatterbrain and can never decide between two things, it will be James/Lily and Remus/Lily. Basically, both Lily and I will be trying to decide between the two. Obviously, by the end James will get his girl. : Review… PLEASE!!!!

Disclaimer- Guess what? I DO own Harry Potter! I am, in fact, Joanne Kathleen Rowling. I have a husband named Neil, three young children named Jessica, David, and Mackenzie, and I live in Scotland. Also, I am VERY, VERY rich!!!! Oh. Wait. That was a dream. Sorry. Don't sue me for dreaming…

Lily Rose Evans had a problem of enormous proportions. She was officially out of denial, and had reluctantly accepted the fact that she was crushing on a _Marauder._

The Marauders. Hogwart's most infamous quartet, and for good reason. All four boys were notorious for their charm, smarts, Quidditch talents, tendency to pull outrageous pranks and, of course, their extraordinarily good looks. Well. Only three of the four were particularly handsome. Peter Pettigrew was irritating and rather rat like in appearance, in Lily's (somewhat biased) opinion. This may or may not have had something to do with the fact that he had spent the last six years taking the last buttered croissant at the Gryffindor dining table before Lily had a chance to take it. He still had his fair share of admirers, though. They all did. However, Lily wasn't usually one to jump on the crush bandwagon. She preferred sweet, romantic, shy guys to outrageous pranksters- but no one could deny the Marauder's appeal.

Sirius Black, for example, was fawned over by almost every girl-and several guys- at Hogwart's. However, only a select few earned his affections in return. It was easy to see why Sirius was so beloved. He had both the appearance and demeanor of a pure heartbreaker. He was charming, smooth talking, witty, and exceptionally brilliant, though that particular trait was usually overlooked due to his laziness when it came to school work. Most obsessed over, though, were his looks. He was certainly gorgeous, with his gracefully long dark hair, piercing silver eyes, and elegant features. Sirius was widely considered the best looking of the Marauders- but not in Lily's book.

Then, of course, there was James Potter. Lily sighed as she thought about James, but not in a heart-wrenching romantic way. No, Lily's sigh was one of pure annoyance. She had actually liked James once. He had been her first real crush, and she'd liked him for an extremely long time- from the beginning of first year to the end of fourth year. They had been friends at that point. Lily wasn't used to being friends with boys, but James had been different- sweet, funny, and not as dim-witted as most boys. She had soon found herself enchanted by him, hopeful that he felt the same way about her. But when they returned to Hogwarts for their fifth year, James had been different. At first, Lily was delighted that he seemed have feelings for her, but she quickly noticed that James had changed, and not for the better. The _new _James was, without a doubt, the most arrogant, idiotic git she had ever encountered. True, he was practically a genius, a natural at every subject, but he used his talents mercilessly against _everyone _who got in his way! However, most girls saw him as so irresistible that they were oblivious to his faults. True, he was very handsome- ink black hair that was adorably messy, toned muscular build from Quidditch, and twinkling hazel eyes that were only made sexier by his wire rimmed glasses- but that wasn't the point! Lily couldn't stand him, and she particularly hated his annoying habit of asking her out every time they met. It reminded her painfully of the time when she was young and naïve- the time when she would have jumped at the chance to date James Potter. But that time had long since passed, and James was not the one Lily wanted, though he certainly wished he were.

The fourth Marauder was Remus Lupin. He was so much quieter that than the others that he was sometimes forgotten, but Lily was sure that she would never forget about Remus. In fact, some of her favorite things about him were the traits that others complained about- he preferred a good book to a good prank, and, Lily hoped, a classy, intelligent female to the first blonde bimbo to walk by with a short skirt and a nice arse. Needless to say, it was Remus with whom Lily was infatuated. She smiled broadly, daydreaming about his shaggy dirty blonde hair, quick and warm smile, and amber eyes. He was gorgeous, but that wasn't really why Lily liked him so much. Unlike the other Marauders, Remus was…sensitive. That was an extremely cheesy way of putting it, but it was true. Remus actually cared about a girl's personality more than her… _other _assets… so Lily hoped, at least. Remus Lupin, she decided as she neglected the half-completed essay on her lap for an intricate doodle of a heart, was practically perfect.

Just as Lily was getting to the good part of a lovely dream about marrying Remus, her best friend, Marlene McKinnon, violently shook her out of her slumber.

"Hmm?" Lily sighed, sitting up reluctantly, "What?"

"Lily!" Marlene groaned, " If you do not get your skinny arse up within the next five seconds, we are going to _miss the feast._"

"Feast?" Lily frowned, still groggy from sleep. "Oh, right, dinner. Well, then. I suppose we'd better get going then, haven't we?" she said quickly, sitting up.

"Yes, we should," Marlene narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Why were you sleeping anyway? It's five-thirty in the evening. You don't even sleep at _night._"

This was certainly true- Lily was not the type to sleep in the late afternoon. Quite the opposite actually. Lily's admirers would call her 'vivacious' or 'lively', but less kind observers, most commonly her best friends, preferred the terms 'hyperactive' and 'insane'. It was all true- Lily was a restless person if there ever was one. She had danced seriously in her eleven years in the muggle world, and had a lot of trouble sitting still for more than five minutes, never mind laying down for hours on end. It was the one thing that teachers disliked about Lily Evans- her short attention span and tendency to fidget incessantly. The only rule she had ever constantly broken was the mandated curfew. Sleeping was low on Lily's priority list.

Dreaming, however, had become pretty important.

Down in the Great Hall, Remus Lupin sighed, waiting for Lily Evans to show up so that James could carry on with his latest "brilliant" scheme to win her over. Sirius had come up with this one, which pretty much guaranteed disaster- while most girls would easily fall for the trick, Lily was certainly not like most girls.

Lily Evans- loved by all, pursued by one. She was easily the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts. Everything about Lily was warm- radiant. She was adored by most of the schools male population, but one extremely zealous suitor more or less scared the others away. All of Lily's admirers were aware of James Potter's crush- obsession- and the more observant ones were also aware of the fact that James had absolutely no chance with her. However, these same semi-intelligent boys were _extremely _aware of James's height- 6'4- and the fact that he was one of the most brilliant and accomplished wizards in sixth year. He had made it pretty clear that he wouldn't hesitate in using these advantages against any and all challengers. Never the less, Lily had a very long list of admirers, beginning with James Potter's name written in huge, flashing, glitter letters. A less obvious name on the list was that of Remus John Lupin.

That's not to say that Remus's infatuation with Lily was any less intense than James's- it _wasn't. _Remus was crazy about Lily- had been since first year. He loved everything about her- she was beautiful, of course, but it was also her brains and her attitude and that certain _brilliance _that was so maddeningly attractive.

He would never admit to any of that, of course. Not because he was scared of James, like most of the guys were, but because James was his _best friend. _Remus scolded himself for even having these feelings for Lily when James had made it clear that he was head over heels for her ages ago. _And it's only a matter of time before she feels the same was about him_,he thought gloomily.


	2. Chapter Two: Unrequited

Disclaimer: Okay, let's think about this. If I did happen to OWN Harry Potter… Sirius would not be dead. Same for Dumbledore. We would know more about James and Lily than we do. Harry wouldn't have dumped Ginny in that stupid, typical, generic Hero-way. I would actually have money… the list goes on and on…

BEST FRIEND'S GIRL

Chapter Two: Unrequited

"Potter!" Lily screeched, livid. Her emerald eyes were glowering at him, her dark red hair was flying furiously, and steam was practically flying out of her now bright pink ears. All of this was in reaction to James's latest stunt.

The moment that Lily and Marlene had entered the Great Hall, they had been greeted by an enormous, floating, heart-shaped balloon with the name Lily printed on it in huge letters. A discreet wave of Potter's wand, and, in a deep baritone that was most certainly _not _Potter's, came a revoltingly written song that most certainly _was. _

"_Lily, Oh Lily_

_Most girls are so frilly_

_So stupid and silly_

_But you, my dear,_

_Are brilliant and clear,_

_An angelic goddess _

_Among banshees and hags_

_I say this because I love you_

_Really, not just for a shag_

_Lily, I love you_

_Lily I do_

_Believe me, my flower_

_What I say is _TRUUUUEEE!

_So what do you say?_

_Go out with meeee todaaaay_

_M'lady, My Lily_

_My GIIIIRRRRLLLLL!!"_

After that lovely chorus, the balloon exploded, showereing Lily and Marlene in glitter and confetti.

"Why would you do this to me?" Lily asked miserably.

"Do what to you?" James replied innocently.

"POTTER!" Lily yelled, "You've just completely humiliated me!"

"Humiliated-but…" James frowned, bewildered.

"Yes, humiliated! God, Potter, I don't know what I've done to make you hate me so much!" She shook her head, glitter and tinsel falling out of her now-frizzy red curls.

"Hate you?" James yelled, "Bloody hell, Evans, of course I don't _hate _you! I lo-"

"Ha!" Lily laughed coldly, "You do not love me, James Potter. You don't even know me anymore." She paused for a minute, and hesitated before adding, "And I will _never _love you."

She turned on her heal, and before stomping up the stairs, she looked back for just a split second- long enough to see James's face collapse in sadness.

"Never say never, Evans," He called out his old familiar line to her retreating back, but even as he said the words, he was losing hope.

Later that night, the two sixth year Gryffindor dormitories were buzzing with conversation, heated debates, confessions, plans, and two very different individuals- James Potter and Lily Evans. That night was pivotal, though no one would suspect it. It was more or less a normal evening, except for one detail- Lily was crying.

All four inhabitants of the girl's dormitory were crowded onto one single bed. The first, Lily, was lying face down on the bed, her tears staining her pillow and matting her hair to her face.

Well, matting the small amount of hair that was not being brushed and braided by the second girl. Emmeline Vance loved hair- playing with it, styling it- if she hadn't been a witch, she always said, she would have been a hairdresser. Emmeline's own hair was long, straight, dark brown, and very boring. That was why she usually exercised her hairdressing skills on her four best friends.

Her favorite subject was Dorcus Meadowes, who was classically beautiful, and who had the best hair in the school. It was waist length, blonde, and soft, falling down her back in shimmering waves. Her brown eyes were a bit dull in shade, but lit up easily with a smile or a laugh. Dory had never had a serious boyfriend. Neither had Lily, of course, but that was mainly because by the time she was allowed to date, James had taken up the hobby of scaring away all potential suitors. Dorcus simply had a short attention span. She very rarely went out with the same boy more than once, but not because she was slutty- she just quickly lost interest in one guy after another. Because of this habit, her beauty, and her lack of attention to school work; she could have been a female Sirius Black.

The last girl was treating Lily to one of her favorite luxuries- a back massage. If Lily did bother to speak between sobs, she would usually croak something like, "Potter…so stupid… Marly, a little to the left…"

Marlene McKinnon was famous for her back massages. She had magic hands, people liked to joke. Marly was also famous for her hiccups. She got them at least twice a day, and they weren't ordinary hiccups- they were loud and obnoxious. Marlene's hiccups had been compared to a calling bird, a croaking frog, a screaming midget, and finally dubbed as "purely Marly." Conveniently, Marlene also had a certain talent for transfiguration, and whenever someone came up with a new animal simile, she would transform them into whatever animal they had compared her to. Marlene's last claim to fame was one that was much less envied, and only discussed behind closed doors in hushed whispers, with the constant use of the phrases, 'poor thing' and 'could have been any of us… could be us next…' Death Eaters had just murdered Marlene's parents along with her boyfriend, some of the first murders of the war.

Marlene had a bit of a temper, but no other girl at Hogwarts could match the wrath of Lily Evans. After Lily got a hold of herself, the girls would have to listen to her rant.

She sat up, wiping tears out of her glowing green eyes. Lily's best friends groaned inwardly in anticipation- they knew what was coming. Lily cried very rarely, and when she did, it was usually out of humiliation of anger. It was also usually followed by a very angry raving rant- hey; you know what they say about redheads and their tempers.

Lily took a deep breath, and Marlene quickly let of her shoulders, which were only getting tenser by the second. Emmeline dropped her now elegantly French braided and tinsel-free hair. Dorcus stopped talking. Lily's speech was about to begin, as it always did, with one, angry word.

"_Potter,_" Lily growled, gritting her teeth. "Stupid, moronic, arrogant _Potter._"

"Lily," Emmeline said, a bit timidly, "Lily, maybe you ought to- maybe- maybe James didn't mean to upset you?"

In response to this, Lily released a cold, ridiculing laugh that was most un-Lily-like. "Oh, yes, of course. Saint Potter would never, ever, ever PURPOSELY upset me."

"No," Marlene insisted, rolling her eyes, "He really wouldn't."

Lily was startled by her friends' sudden betrayal. "It is James Potter's primary goal in life to upset me!" She cried, half furious and half confused.

"No…" Marlene said slowly, as if speaking to a two-year-old. "It is James Potter's primary goal in life to get you to go out with him." all three of Lily's _former _best friends giggled in agreement until they were silenced by Lily's glares.

"She's right, you know," Dorcas grinned, "Lucky."

"I am not lucky." Lily shouted, throwing a pillow at Dorcus. "As if I _want _Potter stalking me!"

"Well," Dorcas giggled, "I would!"

"I don't understand why you hate him so much," Emmeline mused, "He's a pretty nice guy."

"Okay," Lily sighed, frustrated. "Can we please stop with the Potter-love fest? If you all think he's so great, than why don't one of you ask him out? Because let me assure you, I don't want him! At all!"

Then, something amazing happened- all four of the girls were silent. Dorcas was first to speak.

"Are you sure?" She frowned, "All he wants is a date, Lils. Maybe you ought to give him a chance?"

"What?" Lily snapped, caught-off guard. Had Potter slipped love potion in her friends' pumpkin juice, or something? 

"C'mon, Lily, he just wants you to go out on a date with him. It's not as if he's asked you to marry him." Emmeline reasoned.

Lily smirked at her friend. "You wanna bet?"

"I'm sure he was kidding, Lily." She sighed.

"I wouldn't be." Lily insisted.

"He's not so bad," Marlene laughed. "I stayed with his family-" she paused, and then swallowed somewhat difficultly. "Um, this summer, I stayed with his family. He's all right, Lily. _Hot, _too." She seemed to have relaxed a bit at this point, and smiled. "After he gets out of the shower… with his shirt off…"

"He really likes you." Emmeline said wistfully, for she wasn't the most lusted after creature. "It's _romantic._"

"If Potter _really _likes me, then why would he pull a stunt like that? It's obvious that I would _never _fall for that kind of thing!"

They all considered this, but it was Marlene who answered.

"Well," she reasoned, "it is _Sirius _giving him all of his you-advice. He doesn't seem to understand that you and that _Catherine Davenport _aren't the same. He's a bit thick, you know." She grinned. Sirius was a childhood friend of Marlene's, but they hadn't spoken much recently.

Lily rolled her eyes, clearly exasperated. "But that doesn't change the fact that Potter is an arrogant, bullying, idiotic player!"

"He only shows off around, _you_ because he likes you!" Emmeline pointed out, matter-of-factly.

"Fine, bullying, idiotic player, then."

"He doesn't ever hex anyone anymore." Dorcus countered.

Lily glared at her. "Idiotic."

"He's one of the best in our year!" Marlene objected indignantly. "He even beat me in our Transfiguration exams last term!" Marlene almost took that comment personally- she always made sure that she knew exactly how well she had done and who had done better.

Lily sighed, and then presented the final insult, the one that she was absolutely sure they couldn't argue with. "Player," she said simply, smirking.

To her complete and utter shock, frustration, and horror, they all busted out laughing.

"_What_?!" she cried.

"He hasn't been out with _anyone_ in months!" Marlene gasped between giggles.

"I actually asked him to Hogsmeade last week," Dorcus laughed, "Just to see what he'd say, y'know? He didn't even _consider. _I'm not sure he looked at me once he realized I wasn't Lily, actually. I even flipped my hair, right in his face- nothing. Not a glance. I think you'll have to realize, Lily, that you two are perfect for each other, because _otherwise _he'll have to either kill himself or join the monastery which, in my opinion, are more or less the same thing."

"WOULD YOU STOP?" Lily screeched, her voice filled with pure rage, "I DON'T LIKE POTTER, AND DESPITE WHAT HIS STUPID, CHILDISH DELUSIONS HAVE LED HIM TO BELIEVE, I NEVER WILL! HE'S AN- AN- YOU KNOW WHAT, HE'S AN ASS! THERE, YOU GOT ME TO CURSE. HAPPY? I CAN'T STAND HIM, I CERTAINLY DON'T FANCY HIM! I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHY I EVER DID! I LIKE REMUS!"

That was what it took for complete silence to pass over the room.

---

In the boy's dormitory, however, the conversation was just beginning.

"Okay, mate," Sirius frowned, pacing in front of James' bed, where the rejected and deeply depressed seventeen-year-old was sprawled lifelessly, staring up at the ceiling. After glancing at his friend, somewhat concerned, Sirius continued. "Damage control time- back to the drawing board. What's the plan?"

James shook his head and released a cold, bitter laugh- the first signs of being alive that he had shown in hours. Finally, he spoke. "Sirius, did you not hear her back there?"

"Yeah?" Sirius frowned, apparently confused as to the question's point.

"Uh, are you sure? 'You don't love me, James Potter, you don't even know me anymore'." He quoted, still staring at the ceiling emptily.

"Exactly." Sirius sighed, exasperated, "You don't know her!"

"What d'you mean?" James cried, sitting up. "I was friends her for four years!"

Sirius frowned. "Oh. I'd forgotten about that." He paused, apparently stumped, and then he smiled. "Anymore."

"What?" James snapped irritably.

"Anymore. As in, 'you don't know me anymore'. That's what she said. It's not that you didn't know her to begin with- you don't know her anymore. She's _changed._" Sirius smirked, apparently under the impression that he had just said something incredibly insightful and brilliant.

James didn't seem to think so. "Obviously, Padfoot, she's changed since she was fourteen years old." He rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "What's your point?"

"My point, my dear Prongs, is that you don't know the new Lily."

"Okay…"

"So… get to know her!" Sirius explained slowly.

"Elaborate, please?" James asked impatiently.

"Look, mate," Sirius looked down at his feet, as if he was about to say something embarrassing, "I admit it… I was wrong about our fair lady Lily. She is more than I gave her credit for, and it's obvious that those er- grand gestures- aren't her style. And she probably wants you to like her for the real her that she is now, not the her that she was two years ago. So, get to know her!" Sirius grinned, obviously pleased with himself and his little speech. James, however, was yet to be convinced.

"Sirius, that… it's a good idea, and everything, it really is. Surprisingly so, actually, especially coming from you. Only… how exactly do you suggest I do that when Evans won't allow me within ten feet of her?"

Sirius didn't even pause. Apparently he had thought out this plan fairly well in the five minutes that had passed since he came up with it. "You send someone else to get to know her for you."

"Padfoot," for the first time all night, James laughed sincerely, "No offense, but I doubt Evans likes you much more than she likes me."

"Merlin, James, how thick are you?" Sirius grinned. "I meant _Moony_."

Up until this point, Remus had been desperately trying to tune out this conversation, as he usually did when the subject of Lily came up. Remus hated it, listening to his two best friends discuss her, plot and scheme about how they would win her over. He hated James' long, elaborate declarations of love for Lily, because Remus was faintly certain that whatever James felt for her, he felt it too, twice over. He hated Sirius' occasional speeches about how Lily was 'just a girl' and 'not worth this', because she was worth it. She was more worth it than any one in the world, and Remus couldn't stand anyone questioning her worthiness. More than anything, though, Remus hated talks like this- the crazy, ridiculous schemes that James and Sirius would come up with to get Lily. This was because, unfortunately, something told him that someday one of these stupid plans would be just crazy enough to work. It was that depressing though that kept Remus from butting in, offering advice, or even trying to craftily discourage James from pursuing Lily. It was fate, he was almost sure of it, and you didn't mess with fate, no matter how much you wanted to. But at the mention of his name, he forced himself to look up from the book that he had been trying to concentrate on.

"What?" He cried, "Sirius, come on!"

"You come on, Rem! Prongs here has been… how can I put this delicately…_obsessed_ with the Fair Lady Evans for years now, and he still hasn't gotten her to go out with him! I'd say it's time for some major restrategy."

"I agree," Remus said with difficulty, "But why does it have to be me?"

Yes, he thought, why?

"Well," James reasoned, "Basically it's you, Sirius, or Wormtail. She basically hates Sirius as much as she hates me, and I reckon she finds Peter a bit disgusting." He grinned. "So who's left?"

Remus groaned, "But what do you want me to do, anyway?"

"You know… Get to know her for me. Be her friend; get on the inside, that sort of thing. Maybe put in a good word for me now and then."

"Wait." Remus tried to hide the anguish from his face, "So you want me to pretend to be friends with Lily?"

"Pretend?!" James cried, outraged. "Why in the bloody hell would you have to pretend anything? Lily Evans is the most beautiful, smart, funny, nice, and altogether lovely person we know? She's a great friend- I would know, wouldn't I? And you should count yourself lucky to have a good excuse to befriend her!"

Remus pondered these words for a moment. Lily was all of those things, which was precisely why Remus did not want to be her friend- He wanted, desperately, to be so much more. He wasn't sure he could bear to be around Lily constantly, to confide in her, to care about her, without being with her. But… still. James had been his best friend since first year. He hadn't rejected him for being a werewolf- it had been James' idea to become animagi. He had always been a much better friend than Remus deserved.

"Well?" James pleaded, "Please, Remmy? This could be my last chance mate. I mean," he hesitated. "You heard her back there."

Remus looked at his friend. James was miserable, and Remus could help him…even if it meant putting aside his feelings for the only girl he had ever loved…

"Okay," he agreed, "I'll do it." As James rejoiced, Remus flopped back down on his bed and silently groaned. He was pretty sure that those four words would cause him more heartbreak than any others he had ever spoken.


	3. Chapter Three: Swallow Your Pride

Disclaimer: Okay, if I owned Harry Potter, I would be hard at work, writing Deathly Hallows… maybe. Actually, it comes out in about a month, so I might have been done already. Right, then: Either way, I would not be _here… _typing on my computer… that I don't even own, technically… happy? I don't own ANYTHING!!! Great. Now you've made me feel bad about myself. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY!!!!!!!! (See why Lily is such an expert ranter?)

A/N: Here it is… Chapter three! Thanks _again _to Quirinius-Romulus, and also to a new reviewer, Natasharice. While, once again, I only received two reviews, they were both quite nice, and I am grateful. Please review- I really enjoy reading reviews, a lot!! Just knowing that anyone actually cares enough to review is great. Anyways- I like this chapter… my only concern is that it is _very _James/Lily. This bugs me, and will probably bug you, because I have gotten a lot of response for the Remus/Lily aspect of the story. DON'T WORRY!!! While this particular chapter is James/Lily, and it might seem as though that is the direction in which the story is going, it's really not. I'm actually leaning more towards Lily/Remus- it's more fun to write, because it's been done a lot less than James/Lily. The events that take place in Chapter Three are necessary- they add to the plot, and the story needs them. That's just how it is… but these same events will NOT result in James/Lily action, at least not yet!! I love my Lily/Remus fans- and I don't want to lose you, so hold on… don't give up on me!!!

BEST FRIEND'S GIRL 

Chapter Three: Lily can rant, but James can _ramble…_

_I hate you, _Lily thought angrily, _You slimy, foul, stupid thing, I hate you! Why won't you just disappear…_

Lily stared determinedly at the snail on her desk, concentrating firmly on the silent vanishing spell that she was so desperately trying to perform.

Lily would have easily been the smartest 6th year at Hogwarts, but Transfiguration was her downfall. Professor McGonagall's NEWT class was wickedly hard, and Lily detested Transfiguration. She had never been good at it, and it was a miracle that she had even managed to qualify for the class. She still hadn't been happy with her score- all those nights of hard, heavy studying, and only an 'Exceeds Expectations'? Every other score had been an Outstanding.

She wouldn't have bothered with Transfiguration- actually, she would have been thrilled to give it up- but it was necessary if she wanted to go on to Healer training. Lily groaned, desperately trying to vanish the stupid snail. After a few more pathetic failed attempts, Lily decided that, unfortunately, she needed help.

From who, though? There were only twenty 6th year students taking Transfiguration- 4 Gryffindors, 10 Ravenclaws, and 5 Slytherins.

Lily immediately ruled out the Slytherins. All of them were prejudiced and would never consider _breathing the same air_ as a 'filthy, unworthy mud blood' such as herself. The Ravenclaws were resentful of 'that _genius _Gryffindor girl', Lily Evans, who seemed to 'know everything'. That left the three other Gryffindors- Marlene, Remus, and… _him. _Lily considered each one carefully.

First choice, of course, was Marlene. At first, she seemed absolutely perfect. She was, after all, brilliant at Transfiguration, and she was one of Lily's best friends. But then, Lily stumbled across a repressed memory- Marlene _had _tried to tutor her once, in forth year. As a result, both girls had ended up with a black eye and refused to talk to each other for three weeks. No, Lily decided, Marlene would not be the best choice.

There was Remus; she reminded herself, smiling dreamily and probably making an absolute fool of herself. But wait- that would mean having to let him know that she was a useless git, and that simply wouldn't do.

After thinking desperately and even considering approaching the Slytherins, Lily finally reached a terrible realization. The only one who could _possibly _help was the one person who Lily would rather die than ask.

---

Lily approached him in the dining hall, where he was sitting with the other Marauders. Remus caught her eye immediately, of course, and she almost thought-hoped- imagined? That maybe he was looking at her too. She shook her head quickly, as if trying to clear it out by force. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the back of Potter's head determinedly. Good god, he _really _needed a haircut. Finally, with all the bravery and force she could muster, she tapped him on the shoulder. Apparently she was able to muster quite a lot of force, because her so-called tap sent Potter's upper half flying towards the dinner table.

"Urm, Potter?" She asked tentatively, a bit taken aback by the dive he had taken towards his Shepard's pie.

James turned around, his bright hazel eyes wide under his glasses. After he gaped at Lily for a moment, he cleared his throat and managed a confident sounding, "All right, Evans?"

"Could," she hesitated for a moment. Maybe she could back out? Maybe- maybe Transfiguration wasn't so bad after all? The grade, she reminded herself firmly, remember the grade… "Could I have a word outside?"

James nodded, and stood up, glaring at Sirius and Peter to stop their wolf whistling. Ironically, Remus was the only one who hadn't joined them. He was sitting in silence already, staring at his hands intently. He wouldn't have minded looking at anything, as long as it wasn't James or Lily.

The pair left the hall in silence, walked out the door wordlessly, and without a sound made their way across the grounds. Once they had reached the edge of the lake, James spoke.

"Look, Lily- I mean, uh, sorry- Evans. Before you start screaming at me- which I know you want to do and I also know that I deserve- I just want you to know that I am really, truly, sincerely sorry for that stunt I pulled in the Great Hall yesterday. I really am. But- now, I need you to stay calm- I honestly did not mean to embarrass you. Really, it's true. And now, I know, you'll want to say 'Well, than, Potter, why would you do it then?' and, I'm sorry, but my only answer is that you make me absolutely crazy, Lily-sorry-Evans. I mean, I've liked you for ages now, and do you care? No, of course you don't, 'cause you're you- you're Lily Evans, beautiful, brilliant prefect- way to good for the likes of me. But you can't blame a guy for trying, can you? Well, I guess you can- it's your call, of course, but I wish you wouldn't. See, at one point, I just got carried away. I was so crazy about you- I would have done _anything_, just to have you." James laughed, "And now I s'pose you'll say, 'James Potter, you are NOT in love with me'. And, you know what, you could be right. The truth is, you are definitely the most beautiful girl that I have ever met. Not just physically, I mean in every way, you are beautiful. You're smart, and funny, and God, Evans, you're so _nice _all the time- you are, without a doubt, an incredible person. And since you're also pretty modest, you'll probably want to say, 'I'm not incredible'. But you are, Lily- God, sorry. I messed up again. _Evans, _you are incredible, and amazing, and lovely, and- and perfect, all right? In my eyes, you are perfect. Don't even try to change my mind, because you couldn't. So there it is. That's how I feel about you. But, Evans, you'll notice that the world 'love' was absent from that little confession, because, you know, maybe you're right. Maybe I don't even know what love is. Personally, I've always thought that I was in love with you, but maybe I was wrong. Because, you were right about something else, too. I don't even know you anymore. I wish I did- I've TRIED to- but I don't. So don't worry, Li- Evans, I've got it. You don't even like me, so I'm going to give up. I won't continue to humiliate you, I swear. So now, finally, I suspect you'll want to open your yelling fit with, 'James, you are an idiotic, rambling git..' and I want you to say it, I really do. So go ahead."

Lily stared at him, and blinked. Her mind was reeling. She had known that James _liked _her, of course, but she had no idea that he cared so much. She was speechless. Several times, she opened her mouth to say something, but it had to be a full minute before any sound came out. Slowly, she whispered, "Potter, you are an idiotic… rambling… _git, _and all I wanted was to ask you to tutor me in Transfiguration."

"Wha-wha- _what?_" James asked weakly, his jaw dropping.

"Look- I'm- I'm _bad _at it, okay? I managed to get an E on my OWL, but I was studying for hours every night, honestly. I- I need help. Your help."

"And you couldn't have said anything during that whole speech?" James cried, "Bloody hell, Evans!"

"I'm sorry." Lily looked down at her feet. "Maybe… Maybe I just wanted to hear you out. Please don't be mad."

James looked down at her, her lovely face etched with guilt. Mad. Of course he wasn't mad. How could he possibly stay mad at such a beautiful creature?

"Transfiguration, huh?" he asked, cracking a smile. Lily nodded.

"I'm a bit hopeless." She said sadly, biting her lower lip.

"And you want _my _help?" He laughed again. "Wow, Evans… I have fantasized about being your knight in shining armor, but I always pictured me saving you from dragons, and dark wizards… not snails that need to be vanished."

"So…" Lily asked hopefully, "You'll do it?"

James wondered why she had ever doubted tat he would do it. Hadn't she heard him, only moments before, telling her how she meant more to him than anyone else? Didn't she comprehend the effect she had on him? Didn't she know that he would do anything for her? Apparently not…

"Well… I guess. A good knight never abandons a damsel in distress." He grinned down at her.

"Thanks," she laughed.

"No problem, Li- Evans." He said, turning to leave, "I've got to go, though, Important Marauder Business to attend to."

"Thank you so much," She called after him, "Oh-hey- Potter!"

"Yes, m'lady?" he joked, turning around so that he was facing her and walking backwards.

"Call me Lily?" she requested, "Please?"

James raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Okay… _Lily._"

With that, he ran back to the castle, happier than he had been in a very, very long time.

---

When James got back to the common room, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were waiting for him, all with questions burning in their minds. They were only more confused when he walked in, humming some Muggle show tune and sporting a dazed look on his face.

"Did she kiss you?" Peter asked excitedly. Remus and Sirius snorted in doubt, though Remus was far less skeptical than he appeared. Luckily, James shook his head.

"Did she hit you?" Sirius asked, grimacing as he named the more likely possibility.

"_No,_" James grinned, "She wants me to tutor her in transfiguration!"

Remus, Sirius, and Peter were all stunned into silence. Shockingly, Remus was first to break it.

"So does this mean you don't need me to- you know, spy for you?" he asked hopefully.

"No!" James said impatiently, "Of course I still need you. I doubt Lily completely trusts me- I doubt she will for a long time. I mean, this'll make your job a bit easier, since I'll actually be talking to her, but I definitely still need you."

Remus winced. He had really hoped that he was off the hook, which was why the actual announcement that Lily had asked _James _to tutor her in Transfiguration hadn't really hit him until now. She had, though. Why? Why hadn't she asked one of her friends? Two of them were in the class! _Why hadn't she asked _me That was the thought that kept running through Remus's head. That day that he had been dreading- the day when Lily fell for James- had it finally arrived?


	4. Chapter Four: Pride and Predjudice

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Harry Potter… not these characters… not the computer I'm typing this on… not the notebook I wrote this on… not even the _pen _I wrote this WITH!!!

BEST FRIEND'S GIRL 

Chapter Four: In the Library…

The next day, Remus decided to get started on the little mission that James and Sirius had sent him on. It wasn't that he _wanted _to take part in this scheme, but he did want to help James, and more than anything he wanted answers.

He wanted to know why Lily had chosen James, rather than him, to be her tutor, when she didn't even like James. Or did she? That was another question he had. There was a whole list of them-quite literally, in fact, - he had taken a pathetic turn for the worse last night and written them down. Now his questions would be answered. All he had to do was find her.

He looked in the library first, because that was where she usually was, reading a muggle novel and sneaking sips of tea past Madam Pince. He had watched her there so many times, pretending to read or study. This thing was getting a bit pathetic- he might be worse than James.

Sure enough, that was where Remus found Lily- at her usual table, immersed in _Pride and Prejudice. _He smiled slightly at the sight of her, concentrating so intently on the book. Her dark red hair fell into her face, but she didn't seem to notice. Her expression was priceless- eyes slightly widened, mouth curved into a slight smile. She looked so content, sitting alone and reading. Finally, she laughed out loud- softly, of course, but loud enough for Remus to hear.

"Good book?" he asked, regretfully interrupting her. He knew what it was like, being so involved in a book that you were inside of it. He felt bad for pulling Lily out of Jane Austin's world, but he had a job to do. At least, that was his excuse.

"Remus!" Lily looked up at him, startled. Well, Remus thought that she was just startled. He had now idea that her heart had just flipped over in her chest and was currently beating at twice its usual speed. After gazing up at him for a moment, she seemed to remember that he had spoken to her, and quickly dog-eared the page of her well-worn hardcover.

"Well?" Remus asked, pulling up a chair to the table and sitting down, "What's the verdict?"

"It's my favorite." Lily smiled, her face lighting up, "I must have read it a dozen times." Had it been any other boy, Lily would have worried that he'd think she was a loser with no social life whatsoever. Remus was different, though. Lily was sure that he'd understand.

He smiled, "Yeah; I know what you mean. I love Muggle literature."

Lily nodded in agreement, pleaded that Remus had not disappointed her. "Have you read _Pride and Prejudice_?"

"I haven't, actually." Remus confessed, "I always thought it was sort of a girl book… could you tell me about it?"

"Sure," Lily consented happily. If there was anything she liked talking about, it was books. "Well, it's about a girl- Elizabeth- and she's very stubborn. Headstrong, you know, very clever. Pretty, too, I would suspect, but not in an obvious sort of way. Anyway, she meets this man, Mr. Darcy, and she despises him. He's everything she's against- rich, arrogant, snobbish. They spar back and forth and each other, fight- she _thinks _that they hate each other." Lily smiled. "But as it turns out, Darcy is in love with Elizabeth, and after she turns him down, she realizes that she loves him, too. By then, though…" Lily's face darkened, "She's not sure if it's too late."

Remus was quiet for quite some time. Lily thought that it might be because she had bored him terribly with her description of _Pride and Prejudice_. She wondered, miserably, if he had fallen asleep with his eyes open… but in truth, Remus was just very deep in thought.

Though Remus had never actually read _Pride and Prejudice_, the story was terribly familiar. In fact, as Lily had described the book, Remus had been viewing a sort of movie in his mind's eye. First, Lily was screaming at James, her hair flying and voice shaking. Next, James was confessing his love for her, and she was rejecting him- laughing in his face. Finally, a horrifying image came to him- Lily with James, smiling… he wrapped her in his arms, and then, then they kissed. He blinked furiously. No. No, he did _not _want to see that… but if he didn't say smoothing, he might have to live with seeing that for the rest of his life…

It was Lily, however, who broke the silence.

"I suppose James has told you about our meeting last night?" She asked, fidgeting a bit in her chair.

"Er- yes, actually. Not the specifics, of course, just that you'd asked him to be your tutor for transfiguration. He hesitated, "Look- er- why _did _you ask him to be your tutor?"

When Lily didn't answer, Remus' pale face flushed a bit.

"Uh- I'm sorry, you don't have to answer. I just wondered, is all." He muttered hurriedly, cursing himself for bringing the matter up at all.

"Oh, no!" Lily smiled, "it's all right. I asked James because- well, because who else could I have asked? The Ravenclaws don't seem to care for me much, and you _know _I can't very well ask a _Slytherin._"

"What about Marlene, though? She's got to be the best in the class!"

Lily sighed, "I considered asking Marly… but then I remembered that she tried to tutor me in fourth year, and…er, it didn't work out so well." Lily knew what he would say next, but she kept hoping that he'd… forget? Okay, so it wasn't very likely that he'd forget that he was taking Transfiguration…but maybe he'd be too polite to ask?

No such luck. Although Remus wasn't entirely sure that he wanted this question answered, he felt he had to ask it anyway.

"You could have asked _me._" He said quietly. "Was there a reason why you didn't ask me?"

Lily's face went red, and she bit down on her lower lip, as she often did when she was nervous.

"You like him, don't you?" Remus asked. His face fell, and his heart dropped right along with it.

"_No!_" Lily answered quickly, "Of _course _not!" she laughed at the absurd notion.

"Well, why did you ask him, then?" Remus demanded impatiently. It occurred to him that he was being very rude, but he couldn't help it- he needed answers!

Lily decided, then and there, that she was going to tell him everything. She opened her mouth- no sound came out. That seemed to be happening to her quite a lot lately. Words weren't working for her these days…

She leaned forward, and before she could stop herself, she was kissing Remus Lupin. It happened so fast that once her lips had landed on his soft pink mouth, she was not entirely sure how they had gotten there. She was sure of one thing, though- she was not at all sorry that they had.

Her lips tingled as they touched his, and the tingling feeling quickly spread into her face, and soon it was everywhere. He tasted good, she realized, like chocolate. Then, she realized something else, something much more startling- he was kissing her back! This was, without a doubt, the most beautiful and stunning realization of her life. How fitting, as it went along with the most beautiful and stunning moment.

After several seconds, she broke away from him, gasping for air. Then, something equally stunning happened- he reached out, pulled her face towards his, and they were kissing again.

Remus didn't know what had possessed him to do it- or perhaps he did know: it was her, with her glowing pink cheeks and dancing green eyes. She had touched his lips and stolen his heart, his soul, and his good judgment. For that perfect, golden moment, he didn't care who was watching. It was amazing-and then it was over.

Suddenly, he remembered- his friends, his _mission- _he had just betrayed the most important people in his life, his best friends. Guiltily, he pulled away from Lily, and simply looked at her.

Lily, at that moment, was the most lovely thing that he had ever seen. It was difficult to say what the most beautiful thing about her was- it might have been her dark red curls, tousled from where Remus' hands had been, or her eyes, more alive than he had ever seen them. It might have been the way she was blushing, or the way she was smiling. Or maybe it was just the way she looked at him- like he was the sun, the moon, and the stars, like he was smarter and kinder and more wonderful than anyone she had ever met- like she was in love.

_This is wrong, _he reminded himself desperately, _it feels right, more right than anything, but it's just wrong._

He stood up. Her eyes followed him, saying, "Don't go," but he had to. He looked down at her one last time before tuning to leave.

"Don't tell him," Remus said quietly.

Lily shook her head, and after one last glance at her lovely face, he left. Lily sat alone in the library, more happy and sad and altogether confused that she had been in her entire life.


	5. Chapter Five: Promise and Patrols

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing **_**at all. **_**I'm talking nothing-nothing. Nothing in this whole world nothing. Nothing as in 'if it weren't for my mom and dad I'd be sleeping in a box' nothing. Nothing as in 'I'd have to steal the box b/c I don't own one' nothing. **_**NOTHING!!!**_

**A/N- Oh yeah- FINALLY got out of my two reviews per chapter rut: Chapter Four got…(drum roll please)… THREE!!! YAY!! Much love to everyone who reviewed!! Please keep it up… maybe this chapter will get four?**

BEST FRIEND'S GIRL 

Chapter Five: Patrol Time…

For an entire week, Lily watched him. She would stare at him in class, memorizing his every movement. She felt a bit like a deranged stalker, but she couldn't help herself. She was learning more about him every minute. For instance, he wasn't _nearly _as saintly as many thought he was when it came to schoolwork. He was always sneaking bits of chocolate in Professor Flitwick's class; he was always sneaking bits of chocolate in general. Dark chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate-covered caramels… Lily was beginning to think that he was a bit of a chocolate freak. Also, when he appeared to be taking notes, he was usually doodling or writing to Sirius and Peter; he seemed to be avoiding James. Lily supposed that was her fault, and she felt immensely guilty for that.

Then again, she also felt immensely annoyed. There was a _reason _why she had resorted to spying on Remus- he hadn't spoken to her since that day in the library. Literally, he had not said a word to her since, "Don't tell him", and that had been _eight days ago! _Really. It wasn't as if she had attacked him, or something- he had kissed her too, hadn't he? And now he was ignoring her completely. Lily wasn't going to let him get away with this for much longer. She was pretty pissed off. At least, she was until she looked at him. Every time she saw him, brushing his shaggy hair out of his eyes, or reading, or laughing, all of her anger seemed to melt away.

---

For an entire week, Remus tried really hard not to watch her. He wanted to, of course- he wanted to see her, wanted to talk to her, and really, really, really wanted to kiss her again.

He had come dangerously close to doing so, many times, and it had always been out of guilt that he didn't. It was times like those when Remus wished he were one of the bad guys. You know, the dangerous, dark ones, who didn't care about hurting their best friends. The ones who didn't _need _a best friend. Sadly, Remus was _not _one of those guys: his ever-present conscious wouldn't allow it. It occurred to him, miserably, that by trying to spare James' feelings, he was probably crushing Lily. Hurting Lily- that was the last thing he wanted, which was another reason why he hadn't spoken to her. Since he had never actually thought that Lily had feelings for him, he had never considered the problems that would arise if he did. Now he had two reasons why he needed to stay away from Lily- his best mate was in love with her, _and _he was a WEREWOLF! This thought caused him to worry- he had never given much thought to having a girlfriend and how his 'furry little problem' might affect her. He winced, imagining kissing Lily, and suddenly turning into a monster- he could bite her… eat her alive… he shook his head, trying to remove these terrifying images. No, he couldn't put her in danger like that, he just couldn't.

She wouldn't make it easy for him, he knew, and he couldn't avoid her for much longer- it was their night to patrol.

---

The two sixth-year prefects met at eleven, in the Gryffindor Common Room, as they always did. She was waiting for him as he walked down the stairs, a hand on her hip and a most expectant look on her face.

Whatever Lily was expecting, though, it didn't come. Remus said, "Hello," in his usual polite tone of voice, but he said it to the portrait of Godric Gryffindor above her head.

"Hi?" Lily said, a bit impatient, "How've you been?"

"Fine." He answered shortly. "You?"

"Good… haven't spoken to you in awhile." She pointed out significantly, wondering how she could be more obvious.

"Only about a week," he replied, seemingly nonchalant. _Well, technically eight days, seven hours, and twenty three minutes, _he thought, _but who's counting, really_?

Lily was, but since he had chosen not to say that last bit out loud, she simply said, "I s'pose we should start patrolling then."

Remus nodded curtly, and they made their way out of the portrait hole, both knowing that this was bound to be a long, awkward night.

---

Though neither of them were particularly gifted in the art of Divination, they were extremely accurate in their predictions. After about an hour and a half, they had covered he first six floors, snatched several stragglers to detention, and managed not to speak to or look at each other.

"We should probably check for couples now," Remus muttered, concentrating on the floor, "You know… snogging in the astronomy tower."

"Or the library." Lily didn't mean to say it, she honestly didn't… but she had never been very good at controlling her words, especially when a Marauder was involved.

Remus was silent. Even though Lily vaguely regretted saying anything and hadn't really expected him to say much back, this made her angry.

"Aren't you going to say _anything?_" she asked him furiously.

"What is there to say?" he mumbled, still refusing to look at her.

"WHAT'S THERE TO SAY? GOD, REMUS! I ALWAYS THOUGHT PERHAPS YOU WERE LESS THICK- HEADED THAN MOST MEMBERS OF THE MALE PERSUASION, BUT I GUESS I WAS WRONG!" She yelled, glaring daggers at him.

"Lily, I…" he cut himself off, not saying anything else for several minutes. Lily was also quiet, but she could never stay silent for long.

"So that's it then," she asked, shaking with anger, "You kiss me, and then _nothing? _No relationship, no talking about a relationship? I mean, I can't say I blame you… you got a good snog out of me already, so why attach yourself emotionally? I mean, you know I'm not the type of girl who would sleep with you, so you got all that you were going to get, is that it? I must say, I expected better of you. I thought that was typical of Black, or maybe even _James- _but I wouldn't have thought that you were the sort. Perhaps I'm not as good a judge of character as I thought."

"Lily, I'm not that kind of guy, you _know _I'm not! It's not like that, I just-" he started to explain, but Lily cut him off this time.

"You just _what? _You just decided not to talk to me anymore? Or you know, even _look _at me? Was it that bad?" she cried, her anger lessening slightly and turning to desperate sadness.

"Of course not, Lily." He said, staying calm, "But I don't think… I don't think we could have a relationship. It wouldn't work out, okay?"

"Why the hell not?" she asked loudly. Remus winced. Despite her short temper, Lily very rarely used profanity, and the raise in volume indicated that all of her anger was back.

"Because…" He said quietly, "Because it's too complicated. It's too- It just wouldn't work."

"Why not?! We kissed!"

"Yeah, we kissed, but that's _all. _It was just a kiss, Lily." Remus immediately regretted saying this. Slowly, he raised his eyes to look at Lily for the first time all evening. He was expecting her to scream, but instead she looked more like she was about to cry, or like she had just been slapped in the face. She was silent.

"It was my first kiss," Lily said quietly, sounding close to tears, "And I thought it was perfect. It was one of the best moments of my life." She paused for a moment, and then added in a whisper, "Thanks for letting me know that it meant nothing to you."

She looked him straight in the eye, her emerald green gaze penetrating him. She seemed to be daring him to contradict her, and at the same time desperately hoping that he would. Remus had never seen a pair of eyes look simultaneously so angry, defiant, and profoundly hurt.

She didn't say anything else, deciding that she had been hurt and humiliated enough for one evening. As they handed out detention to the students who they found snogging in the astronomy tower, Lily was silent. She looked more miserable every moment, Remus noticed, but he didn't blame her. He blamed himself, and that blame was pretty well placed. Lily felt a bit closer to tears with every couple she found.

Finally, they were done, and they reached the Common Room in silence. Just as Lily was starting up the stairs, Remus grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

There was a single tear resting on Lily's cheek.

Feeling worse than ever, Remus reached out and gently wiped it away. He allowed his thumb to rest there for a moment, as he looked into Lily's eyes, hating the hurt he found there- hurt that he had caused.

"It meant everything to me." He whispered to her, removing his thumb, "don't ever forget that." And with those words, he bounded up the stairs, leaving Lily once again.


	6. Chapter Six: Full Moon

**Disclaimer: Hmm… I'm all out of witty ways to let you know that I am not JK Rowling, or one of her impersonators… If she even **_**has **_**impersonators… well, there was that one guy in China who published a fake HP book in like, 2002, but other than that…. Okay, let's just get it through our heads: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER!!!**

**A/N: Well, here I am, back again. Hope you all enjoyed Chapter Five, sorry it wasn't out as quickly as three and four were. Please Review and let me know what you think of Chapter Six…and everything else, you know, if you're new or something. 3 **

BEST FRIEND'S GIRL 

_Chapter Six: Full Moon…_

Lily settled into bed, hoping desperately that tonight she would be able to sleep. Crossing her fingers, she turned out the lights, climbed under the warm blankets, gripped her stuffed frog Egbert, and closed her eyes as tightly as she could.

She lay there, completely still, for the longest time. All of her friends had fallen asleep quickly, one by one, until only Lily was left. This was how things usually went. Lily had spent hundreds of nights, just like this one- lying awake for hours, just thinking.

Lately, she had been thinking about Remus. More specifically, about that kiss, and the patrolling night. She would relive those moments in her head, and then desperately try to make sense of them. Evidently he had enjoyed the kiss- he had even said that it was 'everything to him'- but he had also insisted that they couldn't have a relationship, and refused to give her an adequate explanation as to why! She thought about the kiss itself, too- how he had tasted like chocolate and felt like velvet. She thought about the shivers that the kiss had sent down her spine, how they hadn't felt like the horror movie shivers, but like something else, something… _magic. _Lily laughed despite her self at this cheesy Muggle-ish description. Magic. Magic was her everyday life- and that kiss was _not _something that would happen any old day. Lily thought about the overflowing misery that she had felt that night, the night when he had told her that it was 'just a kiss' that it didn't mean anything- and then the confusing sort of sad happiness that she had felt afterwards…

Lily thought too much for her own good. Sighing, and thinking, she tiptoed out of her bed towards the window. It was a nice night out, clear and starry. Probably pretty warm, too… smiling, Lily opened the wardrobe, and pulled out her racing back tank and sweatpants. For once, she thought something useful- it was time for a run. Glancing out the window, she grinned. She loved the sky at full moon…

---

Lily Evans was no rule-breaker. She was clever and quick thinking, which were two very useful rule-breaking traits, but she didn't abuse them. Lily was a favorite of all her teachers-particularly Professor Slughorn, who James had nearly attacked once in third year for 'coming on to his girl'. Lily smiled wryly, remembering how she'd hexed him mercilessly and refused to speak to him for weeks. But anyway, Lily did _not _break rules… she was a _prefect, _for God's sake!

However, there was one little, insignificant- okay, rather strict and largely important- rule that she had trouble following. This was the rule about students being out of bed after hours.

See, Lily was an insomniac. Ever since she was a little girl, she had always had trouble sleeping. Her parents would wake up in the early hours of the morning to find Lily reading, practicing her ballet routine, or chatting up her sister Petunia- who happened to be knocked out asleep.

As a child, she was also very fast, so she had joined her primary school's running team. Since she lived in a very safe neighborhood, she starting to practice running at night when she couldn't sleep, and she discovered that it cleared her head. Once she had gone for a run, she was able to sleep peacefully. Finally, she had found a solution!

So, understandably, she had been dismayed to discover that her new school did not allow students out of bed after 10:30. She had complained to Professor McGonagall, but the teacher had insisted that the rule was only for the safely of the students. That was when Lily decided that she would break a rule. She didn't run _every _night, of course- just when things got really bad. Like in third year, when James had started going out with Aimee Scott; or in fourth year, when Petunia announced that she was getting married- and that 'the freak' was not welcome at the ceremony. Like fifth year, when her mum had died of cancer, and James wasn't even her friend anymore. Like tonight.

The Hogwarts grounds provided a much more interesting route than Lily's old neighborhood, though. Nowhere in Little Whinging could you find a patch of giant pumpkins, a huge tree that violently moved, a forest full of magical creatures… or three teenage boys who had transformed into animals and were accompanying their best friend the werewolf…

---

Indeed, Lily was not the only student running around the Hogwarts grounds after hours. The Marauders had arrived hours ago, at sundown. However, if anyone had stumbled across them, they would have found only a deer, a rat, a dog, and, more alarmingly, a werewolf.

Currently, the group was chasing each other around by the Black Lake, the deer running circles around the other three. Everyone but the wolf, who was sort of out of his mind at the time, was enjoying himself.

Remus didn't mind being an unfeeling, perhaps insane werewolf. It was a relief, actually- he had been feeling and thinking far too much lately. For the first time, he had been looking forward to a few hours free of human emotion.

If he had known what would happen that night, he never would have been so eager…

---

Lily reached the edge of the lake, panting. Leaning up against an oak tree, she looked out to the other side of the lake and gasped.

Three figures- no, _four, _one just a bit smaller than the others, were running around the lake, headed her way. As they got closer, she could tell what they were- a stag, a big black dog, a rat, and- she gasped- a werewolf.

---

Sirius saw her fist, and immediately panicked. A girl… a girl so close; if Remus saw her…

"James!" he barked. As animagi, they could communicate with each other, as well as other animals.

The deer looked back at him, curious. Although the Marauders could speak to each other in their animal form, they rarely chose to- simply running around, behaving like wild animals was fun enough.

"James- a girl- by that tree, look!" Sirius yelled.

James looked at the girl by the lake, and his eyes widened in horror. "Lily!" he yelped.

"It's _Evans?_"

"Yeah! Go- go distract Rem, I'll get her away!"

With that, the stag trotted away towards the oak, quickly. He was pretty sure that he could get Lily away from here- he only hoped that Sirius would be agle to hold Remus off…

Lily stood, frozen, by the tree. She felt as though the Leg-Locker Curse had hit her. Her were three large animals running in her direction, two of which were dangerous…she squinted. The dog, the wolf, and the rat had turned around, and now only the dear was coming towards her. Only, as it got closer, it started to look less like a deer and more like a boy- like _James Potter…_

"James?" she gasped, "But you were just- how did you…"

"No time to explain, Lils," he said seriously. "Look, I need you to go back to the castle, right away."

"Wha- why? I was only out for a run…"

"You picked the wrong night to go running, Lily. Now, just go back."

Suddenly, James was cut off by loud footsteps.

"RUN, LILY!" He yelled, turning back into his deer form.

Despite her better judgment, Lily stood still, gaping in shock. The deer threw its head towards the castle, but it was no use- Lily was somehow frozen.

The wolf- he looked so _familiar. _In fact, all of the animals did, but the wolf most of all. Something about him- his eyes, maybe- were so achingly recognizable that Lily was sure that she knew him.

This, in addition to the fact that James Potter seemed to be an Animagus, had caused her to freeze. She simply stood there, confused and worried and terrified, for at least a minute.

Until she felt something- something _large_- knock her to the ground. All she saw was black, darkness… and then, nothing.


	7. Chapter Seven: All I Want

Disclaimer: Everything, and I repeat EVERYTHING, belongs to the lovely, incredibly creative Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

**A/N: Much love to everyone who reviewed Chapters Five and Six. Sorry for the evil cliffhanger last time… Here's Chapter Seven!!  
**

BEST FRIEND'S GIRL Chapter Seven 

Lily awoke to Professor McGonagall's shrieking.

"POTTER! HOW-WHY- WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WERE YOU_ DOING _OUT THERE? YOU AND YOUR LITTLE GROUP OF FRIENDS- COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELVES BITTEN, _KILLED! _AND HOW DID YOU GET POOR MISS EVANS INVOLVED IN THIS MESS? WHY WAS SHE THERE?"

The next thing she heard was James' voice, calm, saying, "Sirius, Peter and I… we wanted to know where Remus went, see Professor? I mean, he _always _says that his mother is sick- honestly, if his mother was ill once a month for six years, she'd probably be dead by now, don't you think? He's our best friend, Professor… we were worried…"

Lily, though quite groggy and a bit confused, was pretty sure that this explanation was a load of bull.

"Well, that's… that's understandable, Potter, but nevertheless- you, Mr. Black, and Mr. Pettigrew still acted foolishly. As for Miss Evans… how does she fit into this mess?"

Lily felt herself panicking. She was busted… she had been out of bed, after hours. So had James, Sirius, and Peter, but they had a good excuse… albeit a fake one, but either way… Lily didn't even have that much. She could be thrown out of Hogwarts; her badge could be taken away…

"Well, Lily, see, she was in the common room when we went out. She has that sleeping problem, y'know, so I guess she was just reading, and she saw Sirius, Peter, and me. She tried to stop us, and w wouldn't tell her where we were going, so she followed us out of the portrait hole. We were arguing, see… and then, Lily tried to get in, but the Fat Lady'd gone to visit another portrait. Lily didn't want Filch to catch her- you know how she is about rules, and stuff- plus, I reckon, she was a bit curious, so she came with us. It was my fault, really, Professor- Lily shouldn't be punished."

Now, Lily was absolutely SURE that was a lie. Were her ears deceiving her? Had James just covered for her?

"Well- no, I suppose Miss Evans doesn't need to be punished. Her record is spotless, after all." Professor McGonagall's hesitated. "And- while I certainly don't approve of tonight's events, and you and your friends will certainly receive detentions- if it weren't for your selflessness and quick action, Miss Evans might have been dead… You and Mr. Black put your own lives at risk… So I suppose you should each be awarded fifteen points for Gryffindor. I think you should be getting back to bed now, though. Madam Pomfrey will want to have a look at you."

Lily heard footsteps, coming towards her, then a body, settling into the nearest bed.

Groaning slightly, she tried to sit up. She failed, miserably.

"Lily?" James said, sitting up and looking at her. "Lily, are you all right?"

"Mmmph." She croaked.

"Does-does anything hurt, Lily? Should I get Madam Pomfrey?"

"No…" she managed to mumble, "I'm fine…" Truthfully, Lily was in so much pain that breathing was an agonizing chore, and moving wasn't even an option, but she didn't want Madam Pomfrey. She wanted _answers._

"Good," James said, "Cause I've got to tell you something…" with a flick of his wand and a muttered incantation, he shut and locked the door.

"About last night?" Lily asked eagerly.

"…Yes, about last night." James told her slowly, "Do you remember anything? About… me, for instance?"

"You- you were a _deer._" She mumbled, "And then you were just you again."

"A stag." James corrected.

"I never accused you of being a _doe, _Potter. Now tell me what happened."

"I'm an Animagus…"

"I'd worked that much out myself, thanks."

James glared. "So are Peter and Sirius."

"Remus, too?" Lily asked quietly.

"No, Remus…" James sighed. Looking Lily straight in the eye, he said gravely, "Remus is a werewolf."

Lily burst out laughing, but abruptly stopped when she realized how painful laughing was. "Remus? A _werewolf? _That's…" Lily frowned, thinking rapidly. It all sunk in… the monthly disappearances, his sickly appearance about once a month- the _familiarity _of the wolf she'd seen the previous night…

"Oh, God," Lily whispered, closing her eyes softly. Everything made sense now- his insistence that they couldn't be together, but refusal to tell her why… it was because he was a _werewolf…_

"He'll be furious I've told you," James sighed, "But you needed to know, with what happened last night and everything…"

"He didn't _bite me?_" Lily asked, widening her eyes in horror.

"No! No, Lily, 'course not… we'd have never let Remmy… of course not."

"B-but last night- I felt something jump on me, something big! And god, James, it _hurts so bad…"_

"Lily! You said you were fine!"

Lily tried to shrug, but her shoulders refused to lift. "I lied."

"Yeah!" James laughed. "Anyway… It was Sirius who jumped on you- he was the giant dog, and he weighs about a ton. He was trying to make sure Remus couldn't get to you. I would have done it, but you know. Sirius was heavy, but I had horns and hooves…Not that Remus would hurt you intentionally, but werewolves- they don't know what they're doing, see. I guess you knew that already, but just know…" He sighed. "Just know that Remus- the _real _Remus- would never, ever hurt you, okay? Don't act any differently around him. I mean, you know Rem. He's more decent that anyone I know, he's a great person. It's his biggest fear, you know, that people will find out and treat him differently. But you wont, Lily, I know you won't. You are better than that." James sounded like he was completely positive of this fact, but he still looked at Lily for reassurance.

"Of course I won't." she said seriously.

"Good." James grinned, nodding at her. "Now, let's get Pomfrey in here, shall we?"

Lily groaned, but reluctantly nodded-_tried _to nod- "Sure. Fine."

---

Lily had quite a few visitors that day.

James left within an hour or two, but came back later, with an arrangement of lilies and a bag of her favorite sweets- Bertie Bott's Every Flavor beans. She especially liked the pepper flavored ones, which James had always told her was very odd.

Emmeline, Dorcus, and Marlene showed up, bringing Lily's favorite bathrobe and pajamas, chocolate frogs, and a rather obnoxious singing card.

Gideon and Fabian Prewett, seventh years and two of the most amusing people Lily had ever met, came in with a bag of amusing items from Zonkos, as well as a lovely bouquet of honking daffodils.

Finally, Sirius Black showed up, looking rather guilty and carrying a large arrangement of flowers, a huge gift basket from Honeydukes, and a card.

"Feeling all right, Evans?" He had said, "I'm terribly sorry for landing you in the hospital wing, love, really I am. I hope you aren't feeling too badly?"

"Don't be silly, Siriu." Lily smiled slightly at the unintentional pun, "You saved my life."

"Oh- Lily, Moony wouldn't have _killed _you!" Sirius said earnestly, "I mean, well- obviously he can't control what he does when he's, you know, but kill someone- nah. Not Remus. Besides, you really think that Prongs and I would have let him?"

With some difficultly, Lily shook her head. No, she had been in good hands with James and Sirius… they were brave to the point of recklessness, but they would never let her get hurt.

_Well, _she thought, as she realized that she still couldn't sit up- and she needed to use the bathroom, _not too badly, anyway._

Sirius left, smiling, and that was the end of Lily's string of visitors. The one person who she had been hoping for, desperately, had let her down. Was he mad at her? Did he feel too guilty? Was he afraid to face her?

Lily go her answer the next day, in the form of a large parcel delivered by his owl, Romulus. The box contained a large selection of delicious muggle chocolates, an elegant hardback copy of _Persuasion, _another Jane Austen classic, and a note-

_Dear Lily,_

_I am terribly sorry about everything that has happened in the last few days- I hope that you can forgive me. I wish I could see you. I want you to know that I'm staying at home, which is why I haven't been in to visit you. I'll be back on Saturday, and I'm looking forward to see you then. I hope you enjoy the chocolates and the book- I know that I did_

-Remus Lupin 

Saturday? Lily sighed. It was only Wednesday!

---

Finally, Saturday came, and miraculously, it happened to be the day that Lily was released from the hospital wing. She was greeted warmly by cheers from all of her fellow Gryffindors, but she didn't care- she needed to find Remus. He was the only thing on her mind. She spotted him at breakfast.

He didn't look very well. He was quite pale, and appeared to be very worried… _about me? _Lily asked herself curiously. She sighed. She really needed to talk to him…

She approached him after breakfast, once James and Sirius had gone to Quidditch and Peter to a remedial Charms Lesson.

"Lily!" He said, quickly wrapping her into a hug. Lily gripped onto him tightly, wishing that she never had to let go. Needless to say, this hug lasted for an unusually long amount of time. When they finally broke apart, Lily looked up at him and said quietly, "We need to talk."

Wordlessly, Remus nodded, and she led him up the stairs. Once they had reached the seventh floor, Lily started to concentrate.

_I need a place to talk to Remus, somewhere where we won't be overheard…_Lily was one of the few students who knew about the Room of Requirement, but she was aware how valuable that knowledge was. After she repeated the request in her head, the door appeared, and Lily ushered Remus in.

The room had done very nicely. They were in a cozy little den, the perfect place for Lily and Remus to talk. There was a warm fire, a couch, even several bookshelves.

Lily stared up at Remus for a minute before saying a word. Finally, she bit her lip nervously, and whispered, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I- I didn't want you to see me differently- I wanted you to think that I was good, Lily, because you… you're _so _good. I couldn't let you find out that I was a monster. I knew if you realized that I was anything less than you expected, you'd hate me- like you do now, and I couldn't even bare to think of you hating me, which I guess was a waste of worrying, since it seems to have happened anyway, and"

Lily cut him off by kissing him fiercely, with just as much passion as she had the first time. He kissed her back, if only for a moment… he was thrilled. Perhaps Lily didn't hate him so much, after all…

After a minute passed thought, he pulled back.

"We can't." he said simply, maintaining composure as always.

"WHY NOT?" Lily cried, forgetting about composure as usual, "I want to- you want to- James will get over it!"

"It's not just _James, _Lily. I am a WEREWOLF."

Lily blinked. "Oh, is that all?" she said, rolling her eyes and trying to kiss him again. He pushed her.

"Lily! This- this is insane!" He cried, "It's dangerous!"

"Everything worth living for is dangerous." Lily replied simply, unafraid as always.

"You don't want a werewolf, Lily."

"You aren't a werewolf, Remus."

"What are you _talking _about, Lily? Last Monday… if it hadn't been for Sirius and James, I would have bitten you!"

"Yeah. Last Monday. Then, you were a werewolf. Once a month, you are a werewolf. Once a month, you are a terrible, dangerous monster," she said quietly, "But everyday, you are a wonderful, kind, beautiful Remus."

"Lily…" he began, but he frowned. He seemed to be out of excuses at last. "Are you sure? Do you really think that we could work things out?"

"You're the one that I want." Lily replied simply, smiling at him.

Remus looked down at her in admiration, this lovely, incredible girl. She was amazing. She actually accepted him for the monster that he was- contradicting, in fact, that he was a monster. She wanted him for her own… and that was just what he needed. So, without worrying, without thinking about werewolf bites or angry best friends, he leaned down and kissed her, because he wanted her, too.


	8. Chapter Eight: My Girl

**Disclaimer- I do not own: James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black, or… tear even Remus Lupin (which, in case you were wondering, I'd like to!)**

**A/N- I'm back!! I've been awfully good about updating, haven't I? I mean, a new chapter nearly everyday! Spending hours of positively **_**grueling **_**typing, spell-checking… I mean, it couldn't **_**hurt **_**to send me a teensy-tiny little review for my trouble… (Makes big puppy eye) could it??? P//S- if you're enjoying all this Remus/Lily sweet/sad/angst/romantic stuff, check out my C2: RemusLily: love love love. If you like my writing style check out my two BRAND NEW oneshots! Or, hey, do all of the above AND review!! I will love you forever**

_BEST FRIEND'S GIRL_

Chapter Eight: My Girl 

"_I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day… when it's cold outside, I've got the month of May."_

Lily sang, rather off-key, as she spun around, trying to liven up her reluctant dance partner.

"Come on, Remmy!" she teased, her hair flying in a million directions, "You can't be _that _bad."

"I don't dance, Lily," Remus sighed, trying to pull away from her.

"Nuh-uh!" Lily grinned, grasping onto his hand even more tightly. "I'm not going to let you go that easily, Remus Lupin." She smiled up at him, her green eyes sparkling with adoration.

"Well, good," Remus smiled back, "I plan on holding onto you for a while as well, Lily Evans."

With that, he leaned down to kiss his girlfriend of three months, feeling happier than he could remember being in a long, long time.

"Remus?" she asked him, her smile a little _too _innocent. She was most definitely up to something.

"Yes?" he said wearily. Full moon had been two days ago, and he was still exhausted. He was still here, though, because he was never too tired for Lily.

"Would you do anything for me?" she whispered. Her expression was completely serious, but he could still see the glint of mischief in her glittering eyes.

"Anything," Remus whispered. He had said a lot of words in his life, but he had never meant any of them as much as that one.

"Promise?" She asked.

"Yes. I promise." He stared down at her, and she reached up onto her tip-toes to kiss him on the forehead.

Then, she grinned. "Good, so you'll dance with me."

Remus groaned, "I _knew _I was getting set up, I just knew it…"

"A promise is a promise." Lily giggled, holding out her hand to him once again.

He rolled his eyes at her, pretending to be a lot more annoyed than he really was, and took it.

"What is this rubbish, anyway?" he sighed, tilting his head towards the muggle record player.

"It's the Temptations!" Lily exclaimed, running over to turn it up and imitating Smokey Robinson's falsetto as she twirled around the Room of Requirement.

"My girl, my girl, my girl! Talking bout, my girl, my girl!"

Remus glared at her for a moment, taking hold of her waist, "Should I feel threatened by this girl of yours?" he asked sarcastically.

Playfully, Lily slapped him on the arm. "Don't you like it?" she giggled, knowing that he hated it, but that he would put up with it just for her.

"I prefer the Beatles," he sighed, but cracked a smile anyway.

"You are _still _not dancing with me, Remus!" she observed, pouting slightly.

Remus grinned at her. Lily had always been so mature before, seeming quiet and almost reserved at times. He loved how she came out of her shell around him, unafraid to show off her many quirks, or act like an eight-year-old. "I am too," he protested weakly.

"You are _not!_" Lily laughed. "I am dancing. _You _are merely holding my hand while I dance."

"But the best part about dancing is that I get to hold your hand," he argued sweetly.

Lily loved this. She was completely, blissfully happy. She had the boyfriend that she had always wanted; gorgeous, smart, funny, and sweet enough to pull off a cheesy line like that. He was nearly perfect… but she still wanted him to dance with her.

"Come on!" Lily begged, "Please?"

He looked down at her face, and felt his heart start to warm up. She looked so happy, so excited at the thought of dancing with _him. _What guy could possibly resist?

He wasn't nearly as bad as he'd said he was, Lily noticed as they danced together. He was quite good, really, for a boy.

The danced until the song ended, at which point they collapsed onto the couch, landing in a perfect cuddling position.

"Maybe the Temptations aren't too bad," Remus whispered, as Lily leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I knew you liked it." She grinned. "I see right through you, Remus Lupin."

"Is that so?" he asked her, looping his arm around her shoulder.

"Yup." Lily nodded. "You _say _you hate the Temptations, and that you can't dance, but you _loved _both just now, didn't you?"

He didn't particularly want to admit it, but she was right. "Go on."

"You act like you're such a stickler for the rules, Mr. Prefect; nice Marauder. But you let James and Sirius get away with stuff, and I bet you _help _them half the time. Also, you don't really take notes in all of your classes. Sometimes you doodle. Or write letters."

He nodded. "All true."

"And, every time you hear that song, no matter how much you claim that you can't stand it, you will think about me and you'll smile."

He looked down at her and grinned. "Well, Lily, I won't be able to help it. You're 'my girl'."

"Do I bring you sunshine on cloudy days, Rem?" she giggled, lacing her fingers with his.

"Always." He muttered.

"Don't you love that?" Lily whispered in his ear.

He shifted so that he was looking at her, their faces only centimeters apart. Taking a deep breath, he said what he had wanted to tell her since the day they had first kissed.

"I love _you._"

Lily looked back at him for a moment, and jumped off the couch. He followed her, over to the bookshelf, and waited for her to tell him that she didn't love him, that she couldn't see why he had to bee so serious all the time, that things were moving too fast.

Lily didn't say any of that though. Instead, she looked up a him, broke into her huge smile, and whispered,

"Could you say it again?" her eyes were brimming with tears.

"I love-" but before he could finish the sentence, she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him fiercely.

When they broke apart, Remus grinned down at her.

"That went rather well," he noted, and Lily nodded.

"I'd say so," she agreed happily.

---

Later, they were settled onto one of the arm chairs, Lily on Remus' lap. He was smiling slightly, playing with her gorgeous silken hair.

"Do you really love me?" Lily asked again. She couldn't help it. She wanted to hear him say it as many times as possible.

"Of course," he whispered, "for always."

_For always. _The words sent shivers down her spine. To think that anyone would want to put up with her for that long was overwhelming, yet completely beautiful.

"Cool." She giggled, holding his hand once more. They were silent for a long time, content to just be near each other. That is, until Lily realized that there was something she'd yet to say.

"Hey, Remmy?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too," Lily smiled. "For always."

In complete sincerity, Remus grinned. "Cool."

For that moment, everything was absolutely perfect. Their eyes locked in an intense gaze, green on gold, each one felt somehow… complete. They each thought that the other was more perfect than humanly possible. They had truly found each other; both were sure that they would never find anyone more beautiful, kind, intelligent, funny, brilliant, or wonderful in the entire world.

Lily and Remus were in love- truly, madly, deeply in love. It was _for always, _Lily was sure. He was her destiny, she told herself, never would she found anyone better.

Remus was just as sure. They had been together for three perfect months, each day more beautiful than the next. Everything was lovely and wonderful and incredible. She was 'his girl', and they were in love, in love for always. What could possibly go wrong?


	9. Chapter Nine: Unworthy

"She-she loves the Temptations- they're a Muggle Band- especially the song "My Girl". She…. She really loves to dance, too. She's been dancing ever since she could walk."

Remus Lupin was a good guy, generally. He was kind, considerate, polite, and honest, in… _most _cases. But in times like these, he truly doubted his own integrity. In times like these, he felt like a terrible, two-faced, lying bastard, and it was all because of James's face.

Which, at the moment, was positively beaming as the mind behind it envisioned slow dancing with Lily Evans at the End-of-Sixth-Year ball.

"Anything else?" he asked cheerfully, "Come on, Rem- what else does Lily love?"

_Me, _Remus wanted to scream, wanted to yell at the top of his lungs, _me, James! Your crush of six years and counting is in love with me! In fact, she's my girlfriend! Now stop making me feel so guilty for it!_

Instead, he mumbled, "No… not from yesterday."

"Oh." James looked momentarily disappointed, but then he smiled again. "Well, listen, mate, thanks for helping me out with Lily. I really feel like I have a fair chance with her now, y'know? Anyway… thanks, Moony, you're a really great friend."

_No, I am not, _Remus thought, _I am a terrible friend… I'm a terrible _person! _I don't even remotely deserve a friend like you… and, James; you REALLY don't deserve a friend like me…_

_---_

"Hey… Lily, I-I was wondering if… that is, if you _want _to… perhaps, maybe, go- go into Hogsmeade with me next Saturday? Er, y'know. As a date. Or- or _not _as a date, if you'd like… though obviously I'd prefer it was a date, but whichever you want- or, if you don't want to go with me at all- of course, that's fine, too… I just, y'know, thought I'd ask… Just in case… though you probably have _loads _of stuff you'd much rather do… I, well, I just wanted to ask anyway. That's all."

Lily Evans was a very nice girl. She was sweet, compassionate, polite, and, usually, quite _honest. _But there were moments when she absolutely hated herself. Moments where she felt more like a rude, heart-breaking, cheating liar, and all because of James's face.

Which, at the moment, was frowning nervously, the mind behind it worriedly racing, hoping desperately that she would accept his invitation.

"Well?" he asked, rumpling his hair subconsciously, "Er- Lily? D'you maybe want to say… _something?_"

_Yes, _she wanted to cry, _yes, I do want to say something- I want to say that I am completely totally, hopelessly in love with your best friend! He is, in fact, my boyfriend. Which is why I cannot go to Hogsmeade with you as a date…. So please, _please _stop making me feel so terrible by asking! _

Instead, she said quietly, "James- I would love to go to Hogsmeade with you." He grinned at her like he never had before, and it nearly killed her to complete the statement. "As…. As your friend."

"Oh." He said, his face falling.

"It's just- I'm so happy that we're friends again… I wouldn't want to ruin that with a silly fling that would only last a month. Not when our friendship could last forever."

"Yeah." James smiled weakly, "Yeah, I understand. I would never want to lose you as a friend, Lily. You've been so great, so nice to me, lately. And I'm _honored _to be your tutor, and I'm _thrilled _to be your friend. It's just- you're just something else, Lily… you can't blame me for wanting to be more…. But I'd love to go to Hogsmeade with you as your friend." He hesitated, and then smiled. "I'd love to go anywhere with you… be your _anything. _You are a truly lovely person, Lily."

_No, I am not. _Lily's mind yelled, _I am not lovely. I am awful. I am an awful, terrible, horrible liar, and I am the least lovely person in the planet. I'm a liar just for going to Hogsmeade with you as a friend, James, because I lied about why, and I lie to you everyday… and these days, I'm the last person you need as a friend._

_---_

Later, Lily and Remus met in the Room of Requirement, as always. Both were feeling immensely guilty, but needed to see the other just the same.

Not wanted- _needed. _They were so in love that Lily couldn't stand to be away from him for more than a few hours. His face, his smile, his smell- he had become like water, or air- a physical necessity. On days when he was sick, she'd be quieter than usual, and even more fidgety. When where friends asked what was wrong, she would jokingly say that she was suffering "Remus- withdrawal", but it was far from a joke. Just being around him made her feel calm- satisfied, and whole. Even when he was there, though, she still had to stop herself from snogging him senseless.

In the Room of Requirement, though, where no one could see them, stopping herself wasn't necessary. Their lips met as soon as their eyes did, in a kiss that was more passionate than ever- just like it always was.

"Why, hello, there!" Lily giggled, playing with his hair. "How are you doing on this fine evening?"

Remus managed a small smile. "Better now."

Lily frowned. "What's wrong? Is it full moon already?"

"Nah," Remus sighed, flopping onto the couch, where Lily settled next to him. "It's James."

"Oh." Lily said quietly as he stroked her hair. "He asked me to Hogsmeade today."

Remus looked immensely guilty. "Yeah. He said he was going to."

"And you didn't discourage him?" Lily asked annoyed, pulling away from him.

"Er- no… actually, I've sort of been… giving him _advice._"

"Advice." Lily raised an eyebrow. "Advice on _what, _exactly?"

He appeared to be completely terrified as he muttered, "On… er, wooing members of the fairer sex…. Well, this one _particular _member actually, he's… he's quite taken with this girl, and since I know her fairly well."

"Damn right, you know her pretty well!" Lily shrieked, as she jumped to her feet. "You've been giving him advice on _me_?"

Remus nodded, looking quite sheepish, as if he knew the next question was coming.

"Since when?"

"Since… er- d'you remember that day… in the library… when we talked? You told me about Pride and Prejudice, I asked you about James being your tutor…"

"Yes, as a matter of face, I _do _seem to recall that day… _wait, _but what happened next… I can't quite recall- oh wait! We _kissed!"_

"Yep, that'll be the day." He muttered.

"So you mean to tell me," she said dangerously, "that the _entire _time we've been dating, you've been giving James advice on me?"

Remus nodded, appearing guiltier than ever.

"So… basically, for three months, you have been giving your best friend helpful pointers on how to get your own _girlfriend _to go out with him?"

Remus nodded again, waiting for Lily to scream, or slap him…

Instead, by some miracle, she giggled, and then kissed him on the cheek.

"You are one royally screwed up person, Remus Lupin." Lily said solemnly.

With that, the problem was solved, but even as they stood there together, the guilt was becoming a wedge, growing and tearing them apart.

---

**Author's Note: Hello, people. I'm terribly sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but I just got home from Writing Camp and I had this chapter written down at home. Anyway, Next Chapter, Lily will go on her 'just as friends' Hogsmeade escapade with one, James Potter. Of course, as always, James has something special in mind… let's see how that works out. ******** on that note… I think I'll talk to you all later. **


	10. Chapter Ten: Broken Hearted

"Something nice," she said softly, "not too careless, or his feelings will be hurt." She pulled a floral dress out of the wardrobe, examined it thoughtfully, and then tossed it.

"Not _too _nice, though," she continued, "because we don't want him getting any _ideas, _do we, Lily…"

She paused, looking worriedly on her entire selection of muggle cloths lying discarded on the floor. "You are thinking much, Lily," she assured herself, "It's only _James… _not even a _date…_"

Finally, she pulled herself together and got dressed. She decided on a simple denim skirt, not too revealing, with a comfortable and worn fitted oxford shirt, the color a soft green. She tied her hair back into a loose French braid, applied a tiny bit of make-up, and studied herself in the mirror.

"Fine." She told herself grumpily, "Lily- you look fine, now _relax…_and stop _talking to yourself, _you're being ridiculous, really…"

---

She smiled at him as they met outside the common room, but then frowned.

He looked different. There was something- it was hard to say, but something was different. Let's see… tall? No, he was still tall. Thin, yes. Tanned, also yes. Ever present lopsided grin- of course… long but proportionate nose? Yep. Glasses, yes. Warm, hazel eyes with menacing twinkle… messy hair…!

"Messy hair!" she squeaked.

"I- I thought I'd straightened it up a bit, though?" He cried, smoothing a hand over his head.

"No- it's not messy, it's…" she frowned. "It's _not messy._"

"I thought you hated the messy!" he said defensively.

"Hate is a strong word." She said grumpily.

"I thought you wanted it to be neater."

"_Why _would you think that?" she cried.

"Because you told me that I made you sick, remember? In fifth year?"

"You _did _make me sick in fifth year! You were a pathetic _arse _in fifth year!" 

"You mentioned specifically that it made you sick when I messed up my hair."

"Because your hair is messy by itself, though! You don't _need _to mess it up!" 

"Yeah… _okay…_but I thought you hated its messy… _look._"

"I don't."

"So I spent _hours _slaving away over the sink doing _this-" _he pointed to his horribly neat, slicked back hair- "just for you, and you don't even _like it_?"

She winced. "Sorry. It's awful."

James grinned. "Well, only one thing we can do about it." He bowed his head. "Would you like to do the honors, Lily?"

She rolled her eyes but nonetheless reached up onto her tiptoes and rumpled his hair. It was fun, too, she discovered. His hair was smooth and silky but had a certain texture; a certain feel that made it want to…

"There." Lily smiled. "All better." And it was. His hair was just as it had been earlier that morning, before he'd attacked it with a wet comb and all of Sirius's 'completely manly' hair products.

"Shall we?" James grinned, gesturing towards the other students who were headed towards the school's exit.

"We shall." Lily nodded, and they headed away.

From the Common Room, Remus watched them walk away on the Marauder's Map, with this odd feeling creep into his chest. Suddenly, he hated how close their two little dots were, how the tiny labels reading 'James Potter' and 'Lily Evans' practically intertwined. And even though _Remus _couldn't figure out what that odd feeling was, it wasn't really that much of a mystery.

The old jealous boyfriend syndrome… happens to the best guys.

---

Hogsmeade was full of people, as usual. Zonkos, Honeydukes, Madam Puttifoots, The Hogs Head- it was all completely normal, except for one thing.

James Potter and Lily Evans were there. _Together._

And as soon as they reached the village, James tried to hold her hand.

"_Friends, _remember?" she hissed as she snaked her hand away. "Just friends."

"Well, Lily, that's the thing. See, I've been thinking…"

"That's never good."

"I've been thinking… well, see, Lily, you _say _that you won't go out with me because you think that it would last and you only want to be friends, but I think you're wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"I think it'd last longer than a month, Lily. I think it could last forever. In fact, I'll bet that if you went out with me once, you'd like it too much to stop."

Lily shook her head. "James… _no._"

"C'mon, Lily… why not?"

she paused, looked up at James, and bit her lip. "Look-_James- _I'm seeing someone."

His face fell, and he simply looked at her for a moment, obviously hurt. He was very quiet until he said, "I bet he's ugly."

Lily laughed and shook her head.

"Ugly…" he continued, "And fat and rude and a muggle-hater, and really inconsiderate. Arrogant, probably worse than me in fifth year, and a first-year-bullier, and a right idiot, and- and Lily, I bet he's in Slytherin."

Lily looked him in the eye, his face so sad and earnest and hopeful, and she wished that she could just let him believe that.

"He's quite handsome." She said quietly.

"So am I…" James protested after gagging.

"Not fat at all… quite polite. Very tolerant, too- honestly, James, what would a _muggle- hater _want with _me… _and he's humble, and he'd never bully anyone, much less a first year. As for the idiot thing- he's very smart, and- _really, _James, of course he's not in Slytherin."

A look of relief flooded his face; "You know I don't want you with a bad guy, Lily. I just want you to be happy…" he paused. "So, it's not Snape, then?"

Suddenly, Lily looked odd- her expression made her look like she was reliving a happy memory, but at the same time like she was in a great deal of pain.

"No." she said softly, "It's not Severus."

"Okay," James smiled, "All right, so I propose a change of bet conditions."

"I never agreed to a bet," Lily protested, but James didn't appear to be listening.

"I bet that by the end of today, you will love going out with me so much that you will not be able to stop going out with me _despite _the boyfriend."

Lily sighed, "All right, but only because there is no way you can win this bet."

"That's what they always say, Lils…" he grinned, "Now, since this is a date, I can hold your hand, right?"

"Yeah, fine." she sighed, allowing her to take her delicate hand into his, which was warm and big and surprisingly soft. "Try to hold anything else and I'll dismember you." She growled, and he laughed like the good-natured guy that he was.

As Lily Evans and James Potter made their way towards the shops, hand in hand, the rumors began to fly.

---

Lily smiled as they approached Honeydukes, "Chocolate." She said, grinning happily.

"Yep." James smiled back at her, "Chocolate."

As they entered the shop, James approached the counter and said, "Excuse me, I'm here to pick up a special order?"

The store clerk an older, plump woman, smiled at the handsome young man in front of her.

"Yes, dear… your name, please?" she asked, though as she eyed the pretty redhead behind him, it was easy to figure out which order was his.

"James Potter, ma'am." He said politely, and she squealed, them summoned the order and smiled at James.

"That'll be one Galleon, seven Sickles." She told him.

He handed her the money and from behind the counter, she gave Lily a long, thin white box with green ribbon around it. "Lily" was engraved into the box in lovely golden calligraphy.

"You are very lucky to have that one, miss." The woman smiled.

Silently, Lily wondered if she meant James or the chocolate, but she smiled back at her, and then looked at James questioningly.

"What is this?" she whispered, looking at the box curiously.

"Open it," he insisted.

Carefully, Lily slid off the ribbon and opened the box.

"Oh!" she said softly, smiling at what was inside.

It was a chocolate lily. The stem and leaves were dark, almost black, and the petals were white chocolate, streaked with milk chocolate. There were little dark chocolate stems sticking out of the top. Lily looked at it, so intricate and beautiful, and much too nice to eat, and she turned back to James happily.

"You like it?" James asked earnestly.

Lily smiled and nodded. Then, she looked up at him and suddenly felt immensely guilty.

Quickly, she turned to the wall of homemade candles and picked out Remus's favorite chocolate fudge with caramel swirls.

James frowned. "That's Rem's favorite candy."

"Yeah…" Lily nodded, "Well… full moon's coming up, and he could use some comfort food. You know… it's painful, I'm sure, and he- he _loves _chocolate, and if this chocolate could make him feel better, even a little better, than I'm gonna get it… it's only a few sickles, really, and I'm just- just trying to help." She said all of this very fast.

"That's really nice of you." James said, sounding slightly suspicious.

"Well…" she smiled, "He's a terrific friend, you know that."

"Yeah." James grinned, "Yeah, I do know that. Guess it makes sense."

"Good." Lily said, and she bought the chocolate, thankful for her babbling abilities and James' insistence on trusting her.

---

Remus walked into Hogsmeade late, and was immediately attacked by a mob of fourth year girls, who he had learned early in life were extremely irritating.

"Oh my gosh! Remus!" a harsh looking Ravenclaw girl named Karen Whittle snapped, "James is with _Lily Evans? _How could you not tell any of us? You are so _cruel…_"

Remus rolled his eyes at the girl who had entertained a ridiculous crush on James since arriving at Hogwarts. "James and Lily are _not _together."

"They are so! They're here together!" Karen insisted, flipping her black hair behind her. "Now, cut the charade. _Why didn't you tell me that James was TAKEN???"_

"Because," Remus sighed, "James and Lily are only here as friends."

"Is that so?" she asked coolly, raising her eyebrows.

"Yep." Remus nodded, trying to walk away, but Karen called after him.

"So, you generally hold your friend's hand and present her with expensive custom-ordered chocolates?"

Remus turned around, closed his eyes, and sighed. "Where are they?"

---

"Look- James, this has been really nice, but- but I really can't keep seeing you. I have a boyfriend, okay? He's not just some casual thing, he's a real, serious boyfriend. I can't hurt him." Lily said gently, looking worriedly around The Three Broomsticks, wondering if Remus would show up.

"Lily- Look at me." He said forcefully. Reluctantly, Lily turned her head towards him and allowed herself to meet his practically blinding hazel gaze.

"All right." She said, "I'm looking. What could you possibly want to say?"

"Lily, I _know _you feel something for me."

"You're wrong." She said angrily, "I feel something for _my boyfriend._"

"Again with the boyfriend, Lily, I'd say you're a bit obsessed." He smirked.

"Maybe I am." She sighed, "Or maybe I'm just in love."

"_Love_?" James asked, in obvious disbelief, "Lily- there's no way- _love- _how long could you have possibly been with this guy?"

"That doesn't matter." Lily growled. "I am in love, and I'm sorry if you don't like it, but earlier today you said you just wanted me to be _happy. _This guy makes me happy."

"I could make you happier." James said desperately.

"How do you expect me to believe that?" Lily snapped, staring him in the eye fiercely.

James smiled. Slowly, he reached forward, and cupped her chin in his hand. She started to pull away, but James was strong, and besides that he was like a magnet on metal, pulling her towards him. He inched his face towards hers, and softly pressed his lips on hers. And somehow, for some, unexplainable reason, Lily didn't pull away. The kiss deepened, and suddenly she was melting into him, her hands around his neck, in his soft, messy hair, and she was feeling something, something _amazing. _She kept kissing him, because he was soft and warm and tasted like butterbeer and she loved it. People were staring- she could feel the heat of eyes on her back- but she didn't care, this was perfect, this was _right, _until she heard it. The cough.

She suddenly pulled back from James, and there he was. In front of them, with the most terrible and heartbreaking look she had ever seen. It was written all over his face. _You hurt me. _And then, it got worse. His mouth twisted into the most awful and artificial smile, and he looked away from her, looked at James instead. He said something, something that made her heart break for herself and ache for him, too.

He said, "Congratulations, Prongs. I always knew you'd get the girl."


	11. Chapter Eleven: Let You Go

A/N: All right, in response to the reviews I received for Chapter Ten- you know, the ones that said "No! Lily can't be with James! Put her back with Remus, now!" Well, I'm sorry, guys, but it had to happen sometime, really. It was inevitable, James and Lily. Sorry… anyway, if you want to keep reading, here's the penultimate chapter! It's short, but enjoy.

Lily pushed through Hogsmeade's crowd, tears streaking, forming brown rivers on her damp cheeks. She was attracting attention again, but somehow, she much preferred the staring when she was snogging James Potter.

She winced, just thinking about that. She'd kissed James! _James, _who she swore after fifth year that she'd never touch. And worse, much worse, she'd cheated on Remus. Remus, her perfect, beautiful boyfriend, Remus who she _loved. _Remus who she may have lost. Well, she had _lost _him. He'd left her with James in the Three Broomsticks, and was nowhere to be found. But was he lost to her forever, or only for a little while?

He wasn't in Hogsmeade, she decided, only after searching ever building and street four times. He was back at school somewhere, and Lily was going to find him.

He wasn't in the library. He wasn't in Gryffindor tower. He wasn't in the Room of Requirement. He wasn't in the Great Hall for lunch, or in any of the classrooms, or in the Forest, or with Hagrid, or by the lake. He wasn't _anywhere- _unless- Lily frowned, looking over to the angry thumping tree a few hundred feet behind her. Unless he was in the Whomping Willow.

---

"Remus?" Lily called to the figure looking out of the Shrieking Shack's window, "Remus, I know you're mad, but just let me explain…"

"I'm not angry, Lily." He answered, his voice terrifyingly even and calm. "We always knew you'd end up with James." 

"I am _not _'with James'!" she said, her voice quivering.

"You looked pretty 'with James' last time I saw the two of you." Remus reminded her, sounding bitter, angry this time, despite what he'd say to the contrary.

"I'm not! It was- it was just a kiss. It was a mistake, Remus."

He only laughed. "Just a kiss, eh, Lily? Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

Lily remembered, suddenly, her first kiss from Remus- her first kiss _ever- _and how her first kiss with James was undeniably similar. "That's different," she protested, pushing the hair out of her eyes.

"Is it?" Remus asked, smiling placidly. Apparently the bitterness had slipped beneath the surface for a while. "Did you and James kiss?"

"Yes." She said. There was no point denying it, after all, he'd been there.

"Was it a two-sided thing, Lily? Did you kiss him back?"

Lily closed her eyes. "Yes," she said quietly.

"All right." Remus looked her straight in the eye, but hesitated, almost as if he'd prefer not to know the answer to the next question. "Did you enjoy it?"

Lily stared at him, and her eyes welled up with tears. Finally, she bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Yes," she whispered, "But- but _no, _Remus- just because it was a nice kiss- It wasn't like _you, _Remus, nothing like you!"

Remus shook his head. "Lily- You're aren't mine anymore. You were never all mine, really… I'm not enough for you. It's not your fault… You, Lily, are whole and beautiful and precious, and I don't deserve you. I can't give you what you want."

"But you can! I want _you!_" She grabbed at his robes, shaking him, "Remus- I _am _yours, don't you see! I have been, this whole time, and James- James isn't the one I want, it was just a kiss, and I love you, I love you with my whole heart, and I don't love him."

"You will." Remus said quietly, "You will love James, and he'll love you, and you'll forget you ever had any feelings for me."

"I'd never forget you. I couldn't if I wanted to."

He shook his head again. "You will, Lily."

"Why? Why do you have to be so goddamn _noble _all the time? Can't you do something you want, for once? You want me! I _know _you do, you love me, you said you loved me, remember?" she cried, hysterical now.

"It's better like this, Lily," he said, holding her wrists. "James deserves you."

"_You _deserve me!" she cried, "And I deserve you! Why does he deserve anything?"

"James fought for that kiss, Lily, he fought for it for six years, long and hard. And that kiss- it's probably the highlight of his life at this point, Lily. James loves you, and he'll give you everything- anything you could ever want. James will take care of you."

"I can take care of myself!"

"You shouldn't have to, Lily," he said softly, stroking her hand with his thumb, "I love you, and- and that's why I have to let you go, all right? It's been great, really, but it's done now. We're done, now."

Lily shook her head. "For always," she protested angrily, "You said you'd love me _for always_. You _promised._"

Remus gave her a sad little smile. "I will, Lily," he pulled her towards him, hugging her as if he was never going to let her go- as if that wasn't what he was doing at that very moment."

She sobbed into his chest, clinging to him for dear life. "And I'll love you," she cried, "I'll never stop."

"Lily- Listen," he said to her, "I just want you to be happy, and James will make you happy, believe me. Just- just promise me you'll give him a chance."

Lily pulled away from him, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Is that what you want?" she asked softly.

"Yes." He said, barely whispering, "Yes, that's what I want."

She nodded. "Then I'll have to do it, then, won't I." She murmured.

Remus smiled, gently, and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. She kissed him on the lips, her last desperate plea, and he returned the kiss but pulled away, and Lily swore she saw a tear fall out of his warm golden eye.

"Goodbye, Lily," he whispered, and then Remus Lupin left her heartbroken for the last time.


	12. Epilogue: For Always

**Author's Note: All right, so here it is. The very last chapter. An epilogue, of sorts. I'm so sad that this story is over, because it is my first published fic and it's my baby and I love it a lot, even though the response was less than stellar. Please review and tell me what you think of it, even though it's, tear, over, sniffle. **

"You may kiss the bride," the judge said, but the bride and groom had taken measures into their own hands. The moment that the young woman had said, "I do," the man standing in front of her had swooped her into his arms, and their lips met. The best man, a handsome young gentleman, was flashing the groom a thumbs up, which he returned from behind his new wife's back, and all of the groomsmen were chuckling. Well… all but one. One was staring at the door behind the great ballroom, trying desperately to forget how incredibly in love the bride and groom were. When he decided that this was completely impossible to ignore, he began wishing that he were the groom himself.

The groom was a tall, handsome young man of about eighteen. He had a shock of black hair that didn't seem willing to flatten even for his wedding day, a lean, muscular frame, and a charming white smile that had once enchanted every witch at Hogwarts.

Now, though, the smile was fixed on only one, his bride. The woman was undoubtedly gorgeous, the picture of a glowing beauty on her wedding day. Her skin was pale but luminous, and the long hair resting on her gently freckled shoulders was a brilliant, shimmering scarlet. Best of all were her eyes, though, wide and green and glistening with tears.

Those eyes made the lonely groomsman want to cry himself. But while Lily Evans Potter's tears were of joy, Remus Lupin's would be of anguish.

---

The ceremony ended, and the reception had yet to begin. Remus sat in a chair alone, staring off to some undetermined item in the distance. The people who passed him assumed that he was deep in thought, but his mind was blank. He was completely empty, so thoughtless and blind that he didn't notice her sneaking behind him, slipping her hands over his eyes.

He smiled involuntarily at her touch. "I'd know those hands anywhere, Lily Evans."

"Potter," she corrected, grinning proudly. Then, picking up on the suddenly wounded expression said, "Hey- Remus, d'you fancy a walk outside?"

He looked back at her, those green eyes wide with concern but still so content, thrilled to be Mrs. Lily Potter.

"Won't your husband mind?" he asked, half-joking.

Lily glanced over at James, who was laughing at something with Sirius and Peter, and smiled. "Nah. James lets me do whatever I want. Besides, we've got ten minutes before the reception begins. C'mon, Rem," she smiled, and he couldn't help himself. He nodded, and followed her outside.

"It's beautiful," he noted, taking in the scenery of the Potter's transformed courtyard.

Lily nodded her agreement. "It really is. James' mum arranged it all. I think she was really pleased that he's marrying so young, she told me she half expected him to die a single man." She laughed, but he was silent for a moment.

"So…" he said finally, with a sad sort of smile on his face. "You're married, Lils."

She grinned, and spun around in a circle, her dress flying along with her dark red curls. "I am, aren't I?" she laughed. "I'm _married. _I," she said, her voice becoming dramatic, "Am Mrs. James Henry Potter… the third."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "There have been _three _Mrs. James Henry Potters? And you're all right with this?"

Lily laughed. "I added the third for dramatic effect, all right?"

Remus nodded. "And your wedding?" he gestured to the courtyard around them, "Is it just what you always pictured.

She looked around, taking in the scenery with a smile, as though she'd never seen any of it. "Sort of." She hesitated, turning back to Remus but focusing on something past his left shoulder. "It wasn't always James, in my head."

"Who was it then?" Remus asked, though he didn't want to hear the answer.

"Well," she smiled. "When I was younger, it was the King of England. I had no idea he was so _old… _or ugly. Then it was Paul McCartney, for an awfully long time," she laughed, but then her face saddened as she refused to look him in the eye. "And then… then it was you."

"D'you wish it was me?" he asked, but immediately wished he hadn't.

She looked him straight in the eye, her first boyfriend, the first boy she had ever loved, and she shook her head. "No." she said, and he could tell by her voice that she was being completely honest, "No, I love James Potter. I love him with _all _my heart, and I wouldn't wish for anyone else in the world."

Remus swallowed, and nodded. IT was for the best, really. He didn't want Lily married to a man she didn't want to be married to. Still, she saw right through his artificial smile.

"Don't be sad, Remmy," she said softly, "You told me to give him a chance, remember?"

"I never said you had to _marry _him." He mumbled, but then he sighed. "Never mind, Lily. It's good you're with James. I'm happy for you. He'll treat you wonderfully, I'm sure…"

"He already does," she nodded. "He loves me, just like you said he would, and I love him. You were right, Remus, that day in the Shrieking Shack. He's good for me."

Remus nodded, forcing a smile. Today he hated being right.

"Hey." She said, stepping towards him. "Please don't be said. Never be sad because of me. I love you, all right?" she smiled at him, speaking those familiar words. "For always."

"You love him more." Remus said quietly.

"He's my husband," Lily said softly, "I have to love him more. But I love you a lot, and I'll never stop." She smiled, and stepped forward to gently kiss his cheek. "I'll see you in there, all right? I'll save you a dance."

---

"For the first dance," Sirius said, "The band will be playing a favorite of the bride's. Ready… _I got sunshine, on a cloudy day…" _he sang in a terrible falsetto voice, and everyone laughed. Sirius shook his head and bounded off the stage, grinning and cuing the band, and Lily and James took to the floor.

Remus stared towards them like everyone else, but his mind was back at Hogwarts School, and he was sixteen again, intertwined with a beautiful green-eyed girl, who was saying to him, "_And, every time you hear that song, no matter how much you claim that you can't stand it, you will think about me and you'll smile."_

He did think of her, replaying that golden afternoon in his mind, remembering what it was like to be the one who she loved most in the world, and he genuinely smiled.

At that moment, James spun her around, and she was facing him, and from over James' shoulder, she mouthed two precious words in his direction, two words that Remus would treasure for the rest of his life.

"For Always."


End file.
